Topic: iPhone 6

Apple on Wednesday appeared in Chinese court to defend its iPhone 6 from patent infringement charges leveled by now insolvent tech firm Shenzhen Baili, arguing that the Beijing Intellectual Property Office defied legal convention in its decision to ban sales of the device.

With a battery repair program already in place, Apple is under more fire from consumer protection agencies in Shanghai, with eight claims of iPhone 6 fires -- but Apple blames external damage for the problem after inspection of the afflicted devices.

Sources close to the investigation on Chinese iPhone 6 models failing with what appears to be a charged battery have told AppleInsider that the main cause of the problems appear to be not related to Apple engineering, but is directly related to the proliferation of low-quality third-party charging peripherals in the country.

The China Consumers Association on Tuesday asked Apple to investigate complaints that some iPhone 6 and 6s units are shutting off suddenly and permanently, despite nominally having plenty of charge left.

An additional three lawfirms are now participating in a class action suit first launched in August, which accused Apple of failing to acknowledge or do free repairs for a so-called "touch disease" affecting some owners of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

A new class action lawsuit against Apple claims that the company has been aware of the so-called "touch disease" on 2014 iPhones for some time, and unfairly refused to repair affected devices at no cost.

Exclusive AppleInsider research points to about 11 percent of an Apple Store's daily iPhone service traffic to be related to the so-called "touch disease" problem, eclipsing all other individual issues dealt with by retail personnel on a day-to-day basis.

A team of Apple engineers worked "around the clock" to return missing Florida teen Austin Stephanos' iPhone back to working order after it was submerged in sea water for some eight months, but on Wednesday the device was deemed unrepairable.

Android phones continued to see the most devices failures in the first quarter of 2016, although the gap with iPhones shrunk hugely quarter-to-quarter, according to a research study published on Wednesday.

Eight months after two Florida teenagers disappeared on a fishing trip in 2015, an iPhone recovered from the pair's recently discovered boat might yield answers as to their fate. And Apple is reportedly willing to help.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday agreed to assist prosecutors in unlocking an iPhone 6 and iPod linked to an Arkansas murder trial, but whether the agency is is leveraging its newfound iPhone exploit is unclear. in cases beyond San Bernardino.

AppleInsider would like to congratulate the winners of our latest giveaway, Paul, William L., Laura S., Mitch W. and Walter M., each of whom snagged one of Apple's new iPhone 6/6s Smart Battery Case in the color of their choosing.

Apple on Friday publicly acknowledged an unusual "Error 53" message, triggered by updating an iPhone 6 to iOS 9 or later after having the phone's Touch ID sensor fixed by an unofficial technician. [Updated]

Despite record-breaking quarterly earnings and continued market growth in the face of withering industry headwinds, Apple stock closed out 2015 down for first time since 2008, though analysts remain positive on the company's near-future prospects.

A new app designed to crowdsource an interactive map of businesses that accept Apple Pay just reported adding 12,673 new merchants in North America, 95 percent of them being small businesses. In parallel, its developer reported that the new app's users have increased an incredible 750 percent over the past two days, indicating a lot of interest in Apple Pay.

With a clever Lightning-connected design and solid construction, we're mostly impressed by the Gamevice gaming controller for iPhone. But with a $100 price tag, a risk of not fitting future iPhone models, and broken controller forwarding support from Apple in iOS, we feel it's an extremely niche device.